By Douglas Williams (Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2006-08-01 10:35

This electrical system, with its heavy-duty battery, enables an electric starter to be used. The starter is fitted in the place of the original dynamo, on top of the engine. Another development was introduced to make life easier for the sidecar versions: a reverse gear.

With these gearbox modifications came improvements to the forward gears. The Chang Jiang is a much more technologically sophisticated motorbike than the Russian M72.

The waiting list for one of Marquass' bikes has lengthened considerably as their popularity has taken off. Last year prospective customers would wait two months, now they need to wait six. Marquass' bikes are being shipped to every corner of the world and he even has a showroom in London.

The Chang Jiang motorcycle with sidecar vary in price from US$2,650 to US$56,000.

Getting the necessary documentation and license to ride these motorbikes in China is not straightforward and it can be expensive but it's not impossible. Marquass can assist.

Mr Li of 750sidecar.com is based in Tianjin. He is experiencing a similar boom in sales to Marquass and notably here in China.

"I've been selling Chang Jiang motorbikes with sidecars all over the world for the past 12 years, and now there is a lot more interest from the domestic market. This reflects China's growing prosperity," says Li. "I really love these bikes, they're big and strong and handsome and they're complete classics."

Ross Gibson, president of a British multinational company in Shanghai, is a self-confessed "born-again biker." He bought a Chang Jiang motorcycle a couple of months ago.

"My bike has similar mechanical characteristics with and better electrics than the Moto Guzzi that I rode around Scotland on in the early 1980s," Gibson says. "Having the freedom to jump on the bike and get out on the roads and experience the sights, sounds and smells of Shanghai is one of the primary reasons I bought it.

"The bikes must be getting popular as there are now three Chang Jiang owners on the same street as me."

Those who are interested, please check the Websites: www.750sidecar.com and www.marquass.com

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